As protest continues outside Assembly, Puducherry CM says Bedi is a 'publicity aspirant'

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Sunday said that all the barricades put up near the office of the Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi will be removed as soon as the brief session of the Assembly slated for Monday would end as it is causing "hindrance" to the smooth movement of people. While addressing participants of the indefinite fast organised by outfits of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes to support the Welfare Minister M Kandasamy opposing Kiran Bedi for delaying in approving his files, the Puducherry CM said that Bedi was 'autocratically functioning' since she assumed office in 2016. 

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Puducherry CM attacks Kiran Bedi

While stating that "she is only a publicity aspirant", Narayanasamy alleged that the erection of barricades at various points close to Raj Nivas at the instance of Bedi since January 7 after Congress-led alliance announced agitation is preventing smooth movement of traffic and people.

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Assuring that he would get all the barricades removed as soon as the Assembly session ended on Monday, the Chief Minister said, "I fear none, whether it is Bedi or anyone else. People's right to movement is important."

Accusing the Lt Governor of functioning in an 'autocratic manner', he said she was trying to gain "publicity" by going on a bicycle every week without doing anything for the people and without approving the welfare schemes decided by the government.

This comes after Minister Kandasamy resorted to indefinite dharna on the premises of the Assembly to condemn the "delaying tactics" on the part of Bedi to approve 15 schemes of his department. Referring to the free rice scheme, the CM said, "Price of rice is rising quite frequently and the fixed amount paid through DBT would only hit the beneficiaries."

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(With PTI inputs)